A/N: Hi everyone! Hope you enjoy chapter one! Let me know if anyone has trouble reading Pip's dialogue :D

Chapter 1: This is Not the End

The following night felt like torture to Pip. There were three more days till he would see Damien again, and time had already begun freezing into a heavy sludge He wanted to know so much about his new friend, and class still seemed so far away. He felt the walls of his room spinning slowly as he stared up at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep. If he stared long enough he could begin to make out shapes in the dark: Damien's hair, his eyes, the way his shoulders sloped and broadened out to his arms. He had only spoken to the black haired boy for an hour, but it felt so reviving and new. Now, at two in the morning, it was only a far off dream.

Pip awoke the next morning to the same tired beeping of his old alarm clock. He stepped and crashed away from his bed just as he always did, and went to the mirror to brush his teeth. He was never one to remember his dreams, but still the faint glow of Damien's face followed him from his sleep and into the waking world. It seemed jarringly wrong to begin this morning just as he always had, like the events from the day before simply never happened. He was determined to think only in the future; to wait one last time till he could see his friend again. Then things would be different. As he shut the door of his room behind him, PIp couldn't help but let out a small laugh. He knew so little of Damien. He didn't know his last name, his interests, or even the slightest bit about him really. Still, he knew more completely than anything in the world that Damien was a good person.

The air outside was just as thick and tired as it felt inside his room. It was only mid autumn, but the clouds above had already begun mixing and swirling into a riptide of purples and blacks. It felt as though the sky itself was moments away of giving up, and falling down onto the earth. He hadn't expected otherwise, but his other classes felt just as sluggish. His philosophy professor chose to give a presentation today, and after the first ten slides, Pip began daydreaming. He tried drawing Damien in the margins of all his notes, but it never turned out the way he looked in his head. He eventually gave up, supposing that nothing could truly match the real thing. Thankfully, however, the professor decided to end class early. If anything, Pip took this as a sign of good luck.


The next two days ultimately felt the same. Pip shuffled from class to class in quiet, waiting only to see Damien again. Still, he no longer felt so alone. Damien had been so kind and understanding; it made him feel like he was truly important. He resolved that next class, he would tell Damien how important he was to him. That night, he drifted off to sleep more soundly than he had any other night before. Unfortunately, his dream this night was vivid and all too sharp. Damien was there, beckoning to him from just beyond a wall of iron bars. The boy drew closer to him, pushing his hands through the gaps and reaching out to him. Pip rushed forward excitedly to meet his embrace. Before the two could so much as touch, however, Damien was forced backwards by thick chains connected to his ankles. It suddenly occurred to Pip that he wasn't the one trapped by the bars; Damien was. He cried out to Damien as he watched him slip far into the darkness.

Pip awoke in a flush of sweat and confusion, trapped under the weight of his blankets. His head swayed back and forth in a disoriented and groggy swirl as his chest heaved with worry. After a moment of catching his breath, he dared to glance at the clock. It was four in the morning. He decided he had to stay awake, whether out of necessity or excitement he wasn't exactly sure. He'd never let anything ruin today, even an ill omen like this. After all, Damien was his sign from God. There wasn't anything he'd let get in the way of today. The sun soon began shining in splinters through the window, brightly tinting the room with a light orange radiance. It seemed the clouds had decided to return, however, and soon blocked the sun from the sky. As he looked out the window, Pip could begin to see professors shuffling slowly from their cars, making their way en masse to academic buildings. His mind couldn't help but drift to this afternoon, where he would finally get to see Damien again.

Pip slammed the door in a hurry as he rushed from his room, anxious to keep moving. There was only an hour left before class, and he was determined to get there early. The wind tugged at his sleeves and the hair around his collar as he hurriedly walked to the center of campus. Birds flocked away from the trees as he picked up his pace, cawing down at him from on high. The dream kept rushing through his head as he ran, beckoning him to hurry. Pip didn't know why, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was running out of time. He shook his head dismissively, donning a stronger face. Eventually, it began to rain. Pip pulled his cap down tight above his eyes and continued onward down the path as the rain grew into a downpour. The walk to the classrooms wasn't the longest distance ever, but it somehow felt like miles today.

By the time he made it to the lecture hall, several early students had begun finding their seats in waiting. He quickly scanned the room for Damien, though he imagined he wouldn't be there yet. He was right. The rain outside screamed down onto the roof of the building in rough strokes, pelting the windows and knocking hard onto the walls. After a moment, Pip heard the door swing wide behind him, letting in a sharp gust of air. He swung his head quick to the back of the room, awaiting the source of the noise. The professor stepped in from the cold, shaking the rain from his umbrella. Pip slumped back in his seat in disappointment. Following the professor, thirty students filed quickly into the room. The seats began filling in pairs and groups, leaving only a few empty. It seemed most were glad to be out of the rain. Still, even as the teacher began his lecture, the seat beside the blonde boy stayed empty.

Twenty minutes had passed already. Pip simply stared down at his lap, allowing tears to fall and mix with raindrops on his notebook. The scribbles of Damien began running down the page, along with the notes beside them. Yet the tired boy never lost hope. Every moment he prayed that his new friend would simply burst through the door, interrupting class. The two would talk again just as they had before, becoming closer with every second. He wanted to hear all the stories he knew Damien had to tell; he wanted to see the way his face shifted when he spoke. But thirty minutes of waiting soon turned into forty five, and eventually everyone began rushing from the room once more. Pip lifted slowly from his seat, drifting off into thought as he made his way to the door. He stepped out into the rain again, preparing himself for the rain. He let out a gasp as he looked up to the path back home, now blocked by the black haired boy.

"Damien!" Pip cried as he ran forward. "You're really here! I jus' knew you'd be!" Damien smiled faintly, soaked through by the rain. After a moment, Pip furrowed his brow and looked up to meet his friend's gaze. "Awh you alright, Damien? I waited so long fuh you, I thought you'd nevuh show up!" He feigned a light punch to Damien's shoulder before blushing and lowering his eyes back to the ground.

The smile faded quickly from Damien's face. "Pip, I'm not going to go to school here anymore," he said with a sigh. Pip laughed a bit as tears began pulling at his eyes again.

"Damien, what do you mean? I thought we wuh becoming friends?" Pip began tugging at the edges of Damien's sleeve. "I-I fink I made it rather clear, but I like you a whole lot, y'know?" The words kept catching in his throat. Damien wasn't speaking, his eyes glossed over into a dark red. "Did I do somefing wrong," Pip asked, his voice lowering. "I understand If I talked too much or came on too strong. I fink I always do tha'."

Damien turned his head away from the other boy's eyes. "It isn't that," he said sharply. "It's already been settled. I'm leaving, and we aren't going to see each other ever again." After a moment, Damien's throat began catching too.

"I don't understand!" Pip yelled, tugging Damien's arms around him. "I finally found you, you're my sign from God!" Damien's eyes widened. No one had ever called him that before.

"God discarded the world a very long time ago, Pip." Damien turned away from him as the blonde boy began weeping louder. He walked away without looking back. He knew he'd never be able to.

Pip was left standing in the rain, crying. He couldn't process anything Damien had said. It felt as though he was fading out of existence again; falling back into isolation. He walked home slowly, barely able to lift his head. It seemed like his body was falling away, melting back out of relevance. He had only ever met Damien twice, yet he knew he could never live without him. What was there left to do now? He didn't even know if Damien wanted to see him again, let alone if he could. Still, he had to respect Damien's wishes. After all, there had to be a reason why he was leaving for good. Why would he say such mean things to him? He was sure they had some sort of connection-he could feel it whenever they spoke. It didn't seem to make any sense. Raindrops cried from the trees as he walked home, barely able to move. Pip stayed in his room for the rest of that day. He wished there was a way to do everything over again. He felt like dying.